Michael Ellenberg’s Media Res Launches Nonfiction Division Headed By Sarba Das; Sets ‘Humankind’ Docuseries With ‘Boys State’ Duo

Outgoing Sunrise executive producer, Michael Pell got engaged at his going away party, Saturday afternoon. Pell’s boyfriend, Daniel Burgess-Wise, in a room full of their friends, family, and colleagues asked Pell to marry him.Burgess-Wise, 29, voice shaking asked Pell, “Will you marry me?Pell, 36, holding back tears, replied, “’Yes!”The pair hugged each other as their guest cheered. The couple met in 2018 after Burgess-Wise started working on Sunrise. They started dating in 2020.Pell has been promoted to a new role and is moving to Los Angeles to be Senior Vice President, Entertainment Content, North America.There Pell will scout out new potential shows and formats for the Seven Network.  A post shared by Michael Pell (@michaeljpell)Pell has been the executive producer at Sunrise since 2010 when at the age of 26 was he was one of the youngest producers at the network. Prior to that, Pell  was a producer in the network’s news department.  A post shared by Michael Pell (@michaeljpell)In response to the news of the promotion, Sunrise’s David Koch wished Pell well saying, “Michael has been a major force behind Sunrise’s continued success over many years.

In the Apple TV+ series Pachinko, Solomon (Jin Ha) speaks Korean, Japanese and English. The show, based on Min Jin Lee’s book, traces four generations of his family from Korea and Japan (as Zainichi Koreans), so all three languages are involved. Ha does not speak Japanese and studied the different dialects with vocal coach Yu-Mi Kang.

WME said Thursday that is has promoted seven agents to partner and 17 more staffers to agent in the company’s Music division, news that comes after it saw clients from Silk Sonic and Olivia Rodrigo to Chris Stapleton, Foo Fighters and Jazmine Sullivan score victories at Sunday’s Grammy Awards.

Plans to create a £26m food and drink venue at Media City have been scaled back, it has been revealed. Peel L&P’s revised proposals would now see the firm invest £5m to build a waterside venue at the Quayside shopping centre's southern walkway.

Netflix has added nine actors to the cast for XO, Kitty its upcoming To All The Boys spinoff series. Joining as series regulars are Choi Min-yeong (Dream Palace), Anthony Keyvan (Genera+ion), Gia Kim, Sang Heon Lee, Peter Thurnwald (Players) and Regan Aliyah (Club Mickey Mouse). They will appear opposite Anna Cathcart who takes on the titular role. The series comes from co-showrunners and executive producer Jenny Han and Sascha Rothchild.

will play Q; Gia Kim will play Yuri; Sang Heon Lee will play Min Ho; Peter Thurnwald will play Alex; and Regan Aliyah will play Juliana. In recurring roles are “Lost’s” Yunjin Kim as Jina; Michael K Lee as Professor Lee; and Jocelyn Shelfo as Madison.As previously reported by TheWrap, Anna Cathcart will reprise her role as Kitty from the “To All the Boys” movies. This first season of “XO, Kitty” will be directed by Jennifer Arnold, Jeff Chan, Pamela Romanowsky and Katina Medina Mora.

Emiliano De Pablos Secuoya Studios, the ambitious Los Ángeles and Madrid-based film-TV production outfit, is joining forces with Sergio Pizzolante, a former HBO and Sony Pictures executive, to launch international sales operation Secuoya Studios Commercial & Distribution.Pizzolante will serve as the president and a minority shareholder of the new company, fruit of a partnership by Secuoya Studios with Pizzolante’s Miami-based indie content and talent agency Ctmobs.The initiative will act as a commercial arm for all the audiovisual projects at Secuoya, “aimed to achieve the integration of the studios’ contents at all of stages, from creation, production and post-production, to national and international distribution, taking in production services and tax incentives’ structuring and management, to compete at the highest level with a true value offer in a market in constant evolution,” Secuoya announced in a statement Monday. With headquarters in Miami and offices in México, Madrid and Los Ángeles, Secuoya Studios Commercial & Distribution looks like proving a key player in the studio’s strategic pillars.It will aim to prime strong pre-sales when license international distribution windows, creating pre-financing for productions with their own IPs.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentMediawan Rights, the commercial arm of the European media powerhouse, is set to expand its scope with the launch of a sales division dedicated to light entertainment programming. Estelle Bodén, an industry veteran, has been appointed head of distribution of this newly-created unit.Bodén will report to Valérie Vleeschhouwer, managing director of Mediawan Rights, and will be in charge of developing and structuring this new initiative.Boasting 25 years of experience, the executive previously worked at Strix Television, the outfit behind hit reality TV formats such as “The Farm” and “The Bar.” In 2004, Bodén co-founded Friday TV whose portfolio included factual formats around the world, notably “Clash of the Choirs,” “Single Moms” and “Minute to Win It” which aired on NBC in the U.S.

WATCH: Elizabeth Hurley reassures Shane Warne's heartbroken son Jackson with extremely emotional messageTaking to her Instagram account, the star sizzled as she posed pool-side, laying on her front at the edge of a luxurious infinity pool and shared more racy snaps taken by Patrick over the years.WATCH: Elizabeth wows in gold bikiniCaptioning the photos Elizabeth wrote: "RIP @patrickdemarchelier I shot so many covers, advertising campaigns and movie posters with you. You were a dream to work with and you will be so missed," with a red love heart.READ: Elizabeth Hurley stuns in low-slung dress as she marks special eventRELATED: Elizabeth Hurley sets social media alight in cheetah-print bikiniThe collection of impressive shots were featured on the cover of fashion magazines Harper's Bazaar and Esquire, in a campaign for Esteé Lauder, and even included a poster for the film Bedazzled.A post shared by Elizabeth Hurley (@elizabethhurley1)Elizabeth's sizzling tribute The photos also saw the former Austin Powers actress pictured beside A-listers Hugh Grant and Matthew Perry, as well as featuring some furry friends too, including a monkey and a lion.Friends and fans of the star rushed to comment on the tribute.

Joe Otterson TV ReporterDean Devlin’s new Syfy series “The Ark” has found its core cast members as production gets underway, Variety has learned exclusively.Christie Burke, Richard Fleeshman, Reece Ritchie, Stacey Read and Ryan Adams will all appear as series regulars in the show, which is now shooting at PFI Studios in Belgrade, Serbia. The show was first announced back in January.“The Ark” takes place 100 years in the future when planetary colonization missions have begun as a necessity to help secure the survival of the human race. The first of these missions on a spacecraft known as Ark One encounters a catastrophic event causing massive destruction and loss of life.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorDisney Plus confirmed launch dates — and pricing — for the 42 countries and 11 new territories across Europe, West Asia and Africa.Disney’s flagship streaming service will bow in South Africa on May 18, followed by all other countries listed in June (see below for dates and pricing). The media conglomerate earlier this year announced plans for summer 2022 expansion to countries including Turkey, Poland and the United Arab Emirates.The countries set to get Disney Plus are: Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Oman, Palestine Territories, Poland, Qatar, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vatican City and Yemen.

Elliot Page is hitting the red carpet!

EXCLUSIVE: Objective Media Group America, the company behind series including HBO Max’s 12 Dates of Christmas and TBS’ The Cube, has made a number of promotions in its leadership team.

K.J. Yossman After a two-year search, U.K.

Will Ferrell has become a big player in the fledgling podcast world and he’s just getting started.

Wilson Chapman editorCandle Media co-CEOs Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs have been making waves in Hollywood for the past year as they hunt for content assets to acquire with the help of a bankroll from private executive giant Blackstone.The pair has mostly kept quiet about the venture, but Mayer sat down this month at the SXSW conference and festival in Austin, Texas, for a keynote session that featured his most expansive remarks to date on the new-model studio that he and Staggs are trying to build.In the conversation with MediaLink CEO Michael Kassan that was moderated by Variety co-editor-in-chief Cynthia Littleton, Mayer answered a number of key questions about how Candle Media intends to function — for one, it’s not a holding company nor an operating entity — and he detailed the vision for “social commerce” activity tied to such 360-media stars such as Reese Witherspoon, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith. “We do have a vision for a modern creator economy business,” Mayer said.

Acort International has acquired Michael Matteo Rossi’s Shadows and is planning a domestic and international release this spring. The film hails from writer, director, and producer Rossi, whose last film The Handler was released on home entertainment platforms in December.

Michele Amabile Angermiller How are we supposed to live without Michael Bolton? “American Song Contest” doesn’t have to answer that question just yet, as Connecticut-based Bolton and his song “Beautiful World” could still place next week through a combination of votes through fans and jurors. But the early lead on night one of NBC’s U.S.